1/2 Peso

The Central Bank of the Philippines contracted Thomas De La Rue for this series shortly after establishing its own currency-issuing authority in 1949, breaking from the pre-independence arrangement under the Philippine National Bank. De La Rue printed the entire English series through the mid-1950s before the Philippines gradually shifted toward domestic printing capacity.

The fractional peso denomination reflects a monetary environment where centavo-range purchasing power still mattered in everyday rural transactions — the half-peso wasn't ceremonial filler. By the early 1960s, inflation had effectively retired it from practical use.